Progress Noted By Major General Edgington
The ongoing Operation Marne Thunderbolt results were noted and the personnel responsible for its success praised on Wednesday. Air Force Major General David M. Edgington met with the Media, and described how things were progressing in positive ways in Southern and Central Iraq. “We in the Air Force use our air components to work with and synchronize with the needs of ground joint force commanders,” said General Edgington.
“We use operational intelligence to help ground forces, including being able to destroy explosives and IED that are discovered on the ground,” said Edgington. “We work to identify and develop where the enemy is, and we identify target sets to strike, working to make it safer for our ground forces who then come in,” stated General Edgington.
“With the technology we have today, we give a great deal of consideration is given to types of weapons we use, to eliminate or reduce any collateral damage on the ground,” said Edgington. “We have a lot more precision bombing ability than in the past, we can literally take out IED’s with an air strike,” the general said.
Air strikes can take care of deeply buried explosives, as well as destroying entire houses that are known to be filled with explosives or booby traps. Commanders on the ground are able to supply targets and they are destroyed by precision air attack.
“Our F-16 Fighting Falcons, Navy F/A 18’s, B-1B Lancer’s and other aircraft work with Iraqi forces and our U.S. Army to arrange air support and coverage,” said General Edgington. The focus on reducing civilian casualties has also causes a lot of goodwill with the local population, and makes the job of ground commanders easier.
Local Iraqi villagers and concerned local citizens have come forward to help pinpoint and identify areas needing to be destroyed or eliminated according to General Edgington.
